Many people confuse identity theft protection with the more traditional credit monitoring services. That’s understandable, because credit monitoring is an important part of a privacy protection plan. But it’s only one part. Identity theft protection covers much, much more.
In this post, we’ll look at how an identity theft protection program works by discussing the many ways it safeguards employees.
Monitoring the accounts thieves and hackers like to target
An identity theft benefit, such as PrivacyArmor, needs to monitor both credit and non-credit sources. They should also monitor hacker activity online to see any connections with those accounts.
Reliable privacy protection should also prioritize high-risk transactions. In identity protection terms, this sort of transaction is an exchange of important personal information. Transactions that seem out of the ordinary or suspicious trigger an alert. From there, a verification call or message is made to the recipient of the transaction or to the subscriber, depending on the situation. This is especially important when dealing with accounts such as financial and medical.
According to Protenus, the number of data breaches in the healthcare industry increased steeply through the first half of 2018. With health and financial organizations storing some of the most sensitive data out there, tracking these transactions closely is important.
Finally, identity protection needs to be a fluid, ongoing process. It can’t just “kick in” at regularly scheduled intervals like a credit report. It needs to be active all the time, as we’ll see in the next section.
Timely notifications to minimize the damage
Providing timely notifications is a critical component of any identity protection benefit. As soon as suspicious activity is discovered, an alert should be sent directly to the consumer. This allows the employee to react quickly by closing or blocking accounts, changing passwords, or transferring funds.
By thwarting an identity theft early on, the employee is able to minimize — and perhaps even eliminate — the damage done. Without identity protection, the crime could remain undetected until a noticeable event (such as a healthcare statement or a bounced check) reveals it, in which case the damage could be far more severe.
Using tracking and notifications, an identity protection program works to prevent and minimize the damage. In the next two sections, we’ll see how it helps employees navigate through the post-theft recovery phase.
Restoring your finances, accounts, and credit ratings
One of the huge frustrations for identity theft victims is getting their lives and finances in order after the crime is committed. It can take hundreds of hours over several months of time to get everything back to normal. That’s why it’s important for both your company’s productivity and the employee’s peace of mind that an identity theft benefit helps smooth out and simplify the process.
Requesting fraud alerts and credit freezes, filing an identity theft report at IdentityTheft.gov, contacting each company (in writing) where fraudulent transactions occurred, alerting local law enforcement when applicable, following up with all those loose ends… these are all areas where an identity theft protection program can take the pressure off the employee.
For example, with InfoArmor’s PrivacyArmor, your employee only needs to login to the online portal or call us and our Privacy Advocates will take over from there. They’ll collect all the information they need, submit reports, send out letters, and follow up on all the details until it’s done.
Getting your money back with insurance coverage
While identity theft recovery can be tedious and time consuming, the financial implications are often far more serious. In addition to funds stolen, there are out-of-pocket costs including legal fees, record request fees, and even fees associated with pulling additional credit report fees. There are lost wages, childcare costs, and tax challenges to solve.
An identity theft benefit should include insurance to cover all these costs, making recovery as complete for the employee as possible.
Prevent, minimize, recover: identity theft protection that works
Early detection of suspicious activity — and a proper reaction to it — can stop or minimize the damages caused by identity theft. After the fact, the tedious recovery process is managed by a professional staff while insurance helps get the employee’s finances restored.
For more ways in which identity theft protection can benefit your employees, check out our complimentary “HR Guide to Employee Data Protection and Identity Theft Prevention.”
